I am not a morning person and I seem to have passed that gene on my daughter. Weekday mornings at our house were stressful and full of chaos as we rushed to get out the door each morning.
After months – 0k, who am I kidding? Years of mornings like this, we started to make small changes to make our mornings a little more manageable. These 4 tips for smoother mornings have helped us start our day out on the right foot!
1. Lay out clothes at the start of the week.
This takes a little more preparation but has been a total game changer for our house. On Sundays, my daughter and I pick out 5 agreed upon outfits for the upcoming week. We lay them out and close the closet door for the week. Weekday mornings she has a choice of what to wear and we don’t spend precious minutes arguing about what she can wear.
2. Pack up the night before.
By the end of the day, we are wiped, but preparing for the next morning helps so much. We pack school bags, after school activity bags, and lunches the night before. That makes our next mornings go so much smoother!
3. Wake up earlier.
This sounds counterintuitive but even with hating mornings, waking up earlier makes things a whole lot easier. I have found that giving my daughter time to wake up by opening her door and playing a song helps her start the day in a better mood instead of letting her sleep a few more minutes.
4. Morning Job List
We are working on helping our daughter become more independent while getting ready in the morning. This visual has helped a lot! I chose icons that were familiar to her, so she understood what she needed to do. I made a this on a chalkboard so she could mark it off each day but it could easily be a printed list or laminated for multiple uses. The best part of this job list? It can be used for getting ready for bed too!
These 4 routines have helped out family start our day off on the right foot. Hopefully, some of these tips can make for some smoother mornings at your house as well!
Because every minute matters, check out these posts for more help to smoother mornings:
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